15 Simple Ways to Support Your Digestion for Better Health

I recently heard a famous doctor telling people that it is normal to have a bowel movement every couple of days. While this might be the norm in our society, it is definitely not normal. It's not healthy either. It's constipation.

A healthy digestive system is top priority for health, especially if you want to heal from or prevent life-threatening diseases. With good digestion, toxins are carried out of your body and the nutrients from food can nourish you.

To do this, your bowels need to move regularly. Twice per day is ideal, but for some people, even once per day is rare. If this is the case for you, food and toxins alike are staying in your body too long, where they can fester.

When your digestive system isn’t like clockwork, all of your organs work less effectively. Your body can’t absorb the nutrients it needs. Your body wants to eliminate what is not useful to its optimum functioning while utilizing each and every nutrient it can from your food. That is part of its job. But the modern lifestyle prevents it. The average diet leads to increased cases of cancer, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, skin conditions, aches and pains, indigestion, acid reflux, autoimmune disorders, and more.

To be well, we need to eat well, and top quality food is not pre-packaged. It's not found in a box, can, wrapper, or drive-thru. It’s found in your own kitchen or one in which fresh, real, live food is valued. Processed food is heavy in additives, light in nutrients and quality. Some of it is just plain dead. Your body can’t use it for nourishment and has to use energy to get it out of you.

With a little discipline and patience, you can heal or considerably improve long-standing digestive problems which are at the root of poor health. Here are 15 inexpensive things you can do to get you well on your way to digestive bliss, no matter what your current state of health.

1.    If constipation is the norm for you, drink a large glass of warm water with one teaspoon to one tablespoon of fiber first thing in the morning. Use a fiber supplement based on fruits and vegetables.
2.    Drink purified water throughout the day.
3.    Drink a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in a little warm water before each meal, or add it to salad dressings or vegetables.
4.    Avoid sugar, white flour products, excess meat, food with chemical additives, fast food, caffeine in any form, fried foods, oranges and their juice, alcohol, and foods that can upset your stomach, such as spicy ones. Once your digestion is healthy again, you can occasionally indulge.
5.    Eat a fresh room-temperature salad every day. However, this is not a good idea if you tend toward diarrhea. In that case, steamed vegetables and broths will be better for you.
6.    Each morning, drink a warm glass of water with the juice of ½ an organic lemon.
7.    Eat a bit of sauerkraut with every meal to create healthy gut flora. Once your digestion is healthy again, eat it regularly. You can also do this by supplementing your diet with a high quality probiotic.
8.    Eat room temperature or slightly warm food, and avoid cold foods and drinks. Cold products cause your stomach to work harder to digest your food.
9.    Eat homemade broths and stocks made from meat, chicken, or fish to gain their healing properties. These have been used by traditional cultures for centuries. Gelatin - which occurs naturally from simmering bones and cartilage - is a powerful aid for digestion.
10.    If constipated, snack on a few raw walnuts that have been soaked in water for several hours. Soaking nuts helps you digest them better.
11.    Drink fennel, ginger, peppermint, or chamomile tea instead of coffee or sodas.
12.    Do an intestinal cleanse, preferably guided by a natural health practitioner. Follow up with a cleanse every year in the springtime.
13.    Get tested for parasites and Candida so you can begin to eliminate vitality-sapping parasites and fungus.
14.    Supplement your diet with digestive enzymes which can assist your body detoxify and absorb nutrients. You can also eat more pineapple and papaya, both of which contain helpful digestive enzymes.
15.    Sit down for meals. Eat slowly in a comforting environment with your attention on your meal, not on the computer or television, and especially not on the news. Rest for a moment after you eat.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention,
how to fall down into the grass,
how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed,
how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.

...Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
Mary Oliver

A Hopi Elder Speaks

"You have been telling people that this is the eleventh hour, now you must go back and tell the people that this is the hour. And there are things to be considered.

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.
It is time to speak your Truth.
Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside yourself for the leader."

Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said, "This could be a good time! There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold onto the shore. they will feel they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly.

"Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above water.

"And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

"The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!

"Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

"We are the ones we have been waiting for."

Oraibi, Arizona
Hopi Nation

Calm Amongst the Storm

When things are going well in your life do you feel something might happen to disturb and disrupt your state of calm? Like a playing child who is suddenly very quiet, it is common in our busy society for people to feel mild anxiety when everything feels quiet and peaceful. Is there really a calm before the storm? Is that old adage correct? Sometimes.

Upsets come in all forms. They ask us, "Can you hold the center of your being while a storm rages?" We can become overwhelmed and shattered by the death of a loved one, illness, betrayal, abandonment, physical, emotional, and psychological pain. We can become despairing over the actions taken by those we love, allowing the choices they make to affect and hurt us deeply. How can we make it through some of life's circumstances with greater awareness, compassion, and wisdom?

Something will come to disturb the calm. It always does. That is part of the human experience - a common one - you can feel great one moment and in the very next moment can receive a phone call or experience a shock that triggers a state of suffering.

I used to believe that much of one’s ability to handle the storms of life has to do with an ability to grieve and heal. I thought, well, we are not taught how to grieve and then to be free from that grief. In many cases we are taught to get over it quickly, go back to work, move on, and certainly don't show so many feelings. As a result, people carry around so much old grief that as soon as a new circumstance arises that creates more suffering, it cannot be managed. It is like the last drop of water that overflows a bucket, the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back.

I do believe it is vital to grieve fully for past losses and suffering in order to effectively manage life’s storms, but more importantly I think the majority of us can use an attitude adjustment. Instead of complaining (and holding onto the notion) that life has done us wrong, we can accept the ebb and flow of difficult circumstances in life. Simply accept that life is this full, sometimes joyous, sometimes painful and continually soften our heart centers as we move through life.

Why do we resist this so? Perhaps it is because we, our own private worlds, have not acknowledged our unique strengths, power, and ability to endure. So we keep trying to get this recognition outside ourselves: look at what happened to me. And then this happened, and this, and he said this, and she did that, and I was innocent to it all.

To cultivate a practice of remaining centered in the face of storms, try the following:

Breathe. Be aware of your breath in every moment.
Consciously feel any sensations in your body, even discomfort. Energy moves through you and it needs to move through and out. When sensations are avoided and ignored, they tend to bury themselves, percolate, and fester.

Accept life! It's full of events both pleasant and not so pleasant.
Remember and repeat, “This too shall pass.”
Each evening before you sleep, look inward and ask, “Am I holding onto suffering? Am I wanting attention for my pain? Am I willing to change and face life with greater joy?

Hold the conscious, deliberate intention that you will go forward knowing that whatever you encounter, you will be conscious of your attitude and how easy it is to let it drop into negativity. Focus on what you have and the gifts your life has brought you. See the beauty all around you. Force your mind into a higher perspective. Insist on it, and it will happen.

A Drug-free Way to Manage Overwhelm, Stress, and Uncertainty

Lately more people tell me they are overwhelmed. We witness and hear about more things now than any human beings before us. There is an onslaught of information which on its own can be overwhelming. But we are also in a time of rapid change, causing many people to transform their ideas and even their values. This requires letting go of old concepts that once provided a sense of stability. It also causes feelings of uncertainty and fear.

How can you get comfortable with uncertainty in these quickly changing times? This is the key to alleviating stress in your life. One excellent way is to meditate. Westerners resist meditation, being oriented toward a more outward focus. But if you truly want to feel calm and become more peaceful within without drugging yourself, find that spot of comfort and ease with uncertainty by becoming quiet within every day. Sit down, close your eyes, be still and quiet, focus your attention inward, and notice the feelings wanting your attention.

All good meditation practitioners know that once you begin to do this, you will discover that no thought or feeling remains with you for long. Each and every thought, emotion, or sensation - such as overwhelm - just gets the opportunity to be noticed. It will arise and pass away. It will not stay. And it will stop chasing you.

On a different note, here is something you probably haven’t considered. If you are overwhelmed or feeling fear, are you trying to force things to conform to your will? Changes are taking place in our world in the realm of "will and power," making way for group cooperation. If you are still trying to will things to your liking, you are probably feeling frustrated. We are moving toward operating at a more heart-centered level now. The old ways, those of I-twist-your-arm-and-you-do-what-I-want, are gradually dissolving. We are entering a new era of co-operation.

In our individual lives, this means we will learn to compromise - our ideals, values, wants, needs, and desires. On a global scale, same thing. We can just turn on the news and read between the lines how these changes are subtly occurring. It is becoming difficult for anyone to be out of integrity without everyone knowing about it. As further interesting and perhaps unexpected or unusual things emerge in our world, we'll see it is increasingly difficult for singular entities to be in control. Life will demand that people cooperate with one another.

We are each in charge of the way we experience this life. We create our own drama and tears, our own joys. If you have found yourself in more drama than you care to admit, you can change course to something less stressful at any moment. This requires you to relinquish "victimhood." This "victim" thing is powerful and we tend to wallow in it, until one day something clicks and we decide we've had enough of it. Is now a good time to decide you’ve had enough?

You can benefit yourself even further by turning your thoughts to more of what you would like to see in your life. It is time to understand how powerful your thoughts are. For example, think more about consideration, harmony, love and belonging, integrity, cooperation, fulfillment at work, community, greater abundance, peace, eco-harmony, clean water, clean air, conscious people, kindness. Never discount the power of your own mind to create positive change for yourself.

Finally, turn your worries around. Remember your every thought is powerful, like a prayer or a plead to the Universe. Now is the time for you to gain authority over your thoughts and direct them mindfully. If you find yourself pondering your worries, reverse direction. Focus on what you want to see, not on what is wrong. This is a powerful way to manage overwhelm, stress, and uncertainty. Stop blaming, worrying, and commiserating with others. No more excuses, just you taking responsibility for how you choose to be in the world.

My suggestions here require no drugs or synthetic substances to help you avoid yourself. Instead, they encourage you to grow, expand, become more wise and aware, and live life in a more balanced way. There is no doubt that is why you are here and I’ve no doubt you are capable of stepping into a more conscious and evolved future. As you do this, you’ll find the overwhelm dissipates, stress diminishes, and uncertainty, though it remains, is just fine.